This invention relates to trading systems particularly financial trading systems.
Electronic equity markets, such as The Nasdaq Stock Market® collect, aggregate and display pre-trade information to market participants. In an electronic market pre-trade information takes the form of a quote that represents a single or an aggregate of same-priced principal or agency orders. A market such as Nasdaq also provides trading platforms through which market participants may access liquidity indicated in the marketplace. In such markets, trading occurs between market makers either for their own proprietary account or as agent to a customer. Also, however, other entities may display quotes or place orders for display in the market. For example, electronic commerce networks, (ECNs) are one type. Some ECNs charge quote access fees while others do not. Other entities include UTP Exchanges. UTP Exchanges are exchanges that have unlisted trading privileges. With these different sources of liquidity for investors, one concern of regulators relates to best trade execution.